Ever since that night of the storm on board the _Nancy Bell_, when she had, as he firmly believed, saved his life by catching hold of him as he was on the point of being washed away by the sea, Frank had become deeply attached to Kate; and the more he saw of the true-hearted girl-- her fond affection for her father, her anxious solicitude towards her little sister, her kind sympathy for everybody--the more his affection ripened, until at length he thought he could conceal his dawning love no longer.
Then came the wreck; and, in the trying scenes which subsequently arose, in which the two were each in their own way actors, the more Frank saw to admire in his fairy ideal, the prompt courageous woman of action.
Subsequently they were thrown more closely together in the enforced companionship of the castaway community on the desolate shores of Kerguelen Land, when every moment increased their intimacy, while it enabled him to study more closely those salient points of her character which appeared to develop themselves as circumstances called them forth--her filial love, her devotion to her sister, her unconquerable faith, her unbounded hope and cheerfulness in the most despondent situations--but, above all, her innate sense of religion, a feeling that seemed to underlie her nature and yet which in no wise detracted from her superabundant animal spirits, which harmonised themselves to the moods and weaknesses of all. Seeing all this, and noting what he saw and reverenced, Frank could not but love Kate Meldrum with all the warmth and passion of his heart. So loving her, and dying for the want of some response to the wealth of affection he had so long treasured up in his breast, he could not refrain from seeking from her a word of hope.
It was one evening when, save to him and her, it appeared to be the dreariest of all the dreary ones they had already passed in their extemporised dwelling--"home" they called it, as people will style any shelter to which they can retreat from all the trials and exposures of the outside world, "no matter how homely!"
The seamen had all retired to their dormitory, as had likewise Mr McCarthy and Adams; while Mr Lathrope was nodding in one corner of the general room by the fireplace, and Mr Meldrum immersed in thought in the other.
Florry and Maurice Negus had both gone to sleep long since. Mrs "Major," and the stewardess had also retreated to their sleeping chamber; and thus, Frank and Kate were, so to speak, alone. The opportunity was propitious.
They had been talking for some time in a low tone of voice, so as not to interrupt the others. In a desultory way, they had thus chatted about all sorts of things and had at last lapsed into silence--a silence that remained for some time unbroken.
At length Frank spoke.
By a strong effort, he at once went to the point
"Kate," said he suddenly, in a voice rendered so thick by emotion that she could not help starting, although she made no reply.
"Kate, do you remember you promised to call me 'Frank' that night on the wreck when we expected every moment that the _Nancy Bell_ would go down with us and every soul aboard?"
"Ye-es," she murmured, very softly and in a hesitating way.
"Well, I want you to call me always so--that is to have the right--you know what I mean."
Her tender blue eyes were raised to his inquiringly.
"I love you," he cried passionately, "and I want you to promise--"
"Hush!" said she, putting her hand over his lips; but he only kissed the hand, and went on with what he was about to say when she had interrupted him.
"I want you, Kate, my darling, to promise to be my wife!" he said. "I love you more than I can tell--I have loved you since ever I first saw you--and I shall love you till my dying day; will you promise, Kate, to be my wife? but, if you can't yet do all I ask, will you try to love me a little? Oh, Kate, I do love you so dearly!"
Her head bent lower and lower, so that he had to bend his too in order to see what her face said, for she would not speak; and, as the firelight danced upon the dear face and lightened up the blue eyes which so shyly looked into his, Frank seemed to read an answer there that was favourable to his hopes, for he passed his arm round her waist without another moment's hesitation, and ventured to imprint a kiss upon her lips.
"My darling, my darling!" he murmured in an ecstasy of joy; but just then Mr Meldrum raised his head from between his clasped hands and looked at the pair.
He evidently realised what had happened, and, as evidently, he was not taken by surprise at the event. Nor, indeed, would anyone else have been in the whole community; for Frank's love to Kate had been as palpable to all as the famed ostrich of the story was when it hid its head in the sand and imagined itself invisible to its pursuers!
"My children," said he kindly, coming over to them and holding out his hand to Frank, who at once grasped it, "I expected this; and I cannot say I am displeased. I know you have an affection for each other--"
We love each other," interrupted Frank eagerly.
"Well, you love each other, if you prefer it being so put; but you are both very young, and you must wait for some time even after we are released, as I hope we shall be by and by, from this desert isle. I have seen enough of you, Frank Harness, to feel confident that I can trust my daughter's happiness to your keeping; but you must first secure a name and a competence for yourself before you can dream of asking her to be your wife. You see, my boys I may perhaps have overheard more of your whispered conversation than you thought! I can give Kate nothing, for I am a ruined man, and was going out to New Zealand to try and retrieve my lost fortune when this untoward disaster happened!"
"Mr Meldrum," said Frank respectfully, standing up by the side of the other and facing him like a man, "I want nothing but Kate. She is the greatest fortune I could ever crave! My father is a rich man, one of the largest ship-owners in Liverpool, and my taking to the sea has been strongly against his wish, although he consented to it when he saw how bent I was upon being a sailor. He could make me independent to-morrow if I asked him."
"I prefer you as you are, Frank," responded Mr Meldrum; "and I'm sure so does Kate, eh?"
Yes," said she shyly, and blushing as she looked up for an instant.
"Then keep as you are, my boy,"--continued her father--"and as soon as you are captain of a vessel of your own--and Mr McCarthy tells me you are quite competent to pass the Trinity-House examination for a first- mate's certificate; why, you may come to me and claim Kate's hand!"
"Is that a bargain?" asked Frank anxiously, looking from one to the other.
"It is," replied Mr Meldrum, while Kate faintly whispered another "yes."
"Then," said Frank triumphantly, "she shall be my wife before another year goes over our heads; for, I can pass as soon as I go home for a first officer's certificate, and get a ship to command immediately afterwards if I like. Look out for me to make my claim within that time, according to your promise!"
"And I guess I'm witness to that thaar agreement," exclaimed Mr Lathrope, starting up.
The artful old fellow had been "playing 'possum," as he termed it, all along; only waiting for the denouement of the little drama before disclosing himself. However, he seemed so genuinely pleased with what had taken place that neither of the principal performers could be angry with him for listening.
"I'm downright real glad," said he after a bit, congratulating them both and wringing poor Frank's hand well nigh off in the exuberance of his delight. "Say, if yer don't believe me, may I never eat another clam chowder agin--durn my boots if I ever will, thar!"
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
BLACK SNOW!
By the middle of September, the worst of the winter weather was over, the snow gradually ceasing to fall and the drifts that had accumulated in the valley up which the creek entered, and where the shipwrecked people from the _Nancy Bell_ had built their house--beginning to melt under the influence of the milder winds and increasing warmth of the sun's rays.
But, everywhere the landscape still remained wrapped in the same white mantle it had worn ever since the castaways had first taken up their residence on the island, the bare spots then apparent in some places, which was a circumstance owing to the shelter of the cliffs and crags in the immediate vicinity of the sea, having been subsequently covered by the heavy storms at the end of August.
It would take a long time, all saw, for the snow to clear away even if the most rapid thaw were now to set in; and this the climate did not permit of, the transition from winter to spring being carried through a course of progressive stages that were as disagreeable as they were prolonged.
There was balm in Gilead, however.
Not long after the last of the heavy snowfalls, and when the days began to grow brighter, thus enabling the castaways to crawl out in the open and have a little more exercise than they could obtain within doors, the bird colony adjacent to "Penguin Castle" became largely increased, their numbers swelling continually by fresh accessions; so that, in a short time, it was impossible for any of the people to stir out of their habitation without stumbling across a batch of penguins, ever continually grumbling, croaking, chuckling, and otherwise expressing their indignation at being, as they seemed to think, so unjustly interfered with by the castaways.
It was evident that the building season of the birds had arrived; and it could not certainly have come at a more auspicious time, for their provisions were almost exhausted and Mr Meldrum was in great straits how to supply the party with food. The despised flesh of the sea- elephants, even, had by this time been consumed and all hands placed on short allowance, it being impossible to go out hunting again as yet, or to penetrate up the valley to the rabbit warren, on account of the snow blocking the way and rendering the ascent of the hills impracticable.
The influx of the penguins, therefore, for which he had been looking out for the last few weeks and had almost despaired of, was hailed by Mr Meldrum with the deepest joy, for it solved his greatest difficulty at once, taking away the fear of starvation that had been haunting him.
With such a plentiful supply of the birds, they might now hope to last out until they could procure more palatable food; and those who were "squeamish" in objecting to the fishy odour of the penguins themselves, would _faut de mieux_ find plenty of sustenance in the eggs that there was no doubt would soon be laid in much greater abundance than they either required or could consume.
As the penguins mustered their forces, each day seeing some fresh arrivals to fight for the occupation of the rookery, they were a constant source of amusement to the snow-bound party, who, not being able to stir far from the doorway of the "castle," had nothing hardly to occupy their attention save the movements of the birds.
The penguins, they observed, were of four different classes or varieties, although all belonged to the same family, partaking of the common characteristics of such; but, even as they differed in size and appearance, so they presented diverse modes of conducting their domestic arrangements and varied in their habits.
Some were of the most retiring nature. These, isolating themselves in a separate encampment, drew a strong line of demarcation between the abode of their neighbours and their own retreat, as if they were of too exclusive a temper to associate with the common herd; while others, of quite a different species, appeared to have no false pride which prevented them from associating with the rest, of whatever class they might belong to, for they were "hail fellow well met" almost on their arrival with every bird in the rookery.
"Them's republicans, I guess," said Mr Lathrope, noticing this trait of character. "They don't care a cuss for social distinctions!"
Mr Meldrum, having had some previous acquaintance of the penguin family when on board a ship which had been employed in surveying duties in the Straits of Magellan and round the Falkland Islands, was able to give the others a good deal of information about the birds.
There were four varieties, he said, on Kerguelen Land, as far as he could see, namely:-- the "king penguin," the aristocrat of the community, who kept aloof from the rest; a black-and-white species that whaling men call the "johnny;" a third, styled the "macaroni penguin,"
which had a handsome double tuft of rich orange-coloured feathers on their heads; and a fourth variety, distinct from the last-mentioned only from its smaller size, and the fact of its plume or crest being single instead of double, and of a pale sulphur yellow in lieu of orange.